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Hello all,
I have an opportunity for a job in Greenville, NC. I have been trying to do research on the area and where to look for possibly living. A little background of my family. Me and my wife are in our late twenties. We have three young kids. Oldest is in 1st grade. We currently live in a town of about 1,000 people that is about 45 minutes from Indianapolis and 15 minutes from a town with a population of 30k. Our kids attend a small school that has good ratings on greatschools.org. We know nothing about the Greenville area and I am coming up short handed trying to research it. We would be looking for the same type of setting (small/medium town, small/medium school district, good schools, low crime). We love to be outdoors and enjoy being able to go on walks with our dogs, kayaking, and parks. So a low crime area/good school is the two main things we want. I don't think we would be able to afford private schools. We wouldn't have a huge budget for a house. Honestly I would want to rent for the first year. I don't mind a commute to work. I would consider anything up to about an hour commute. Thinking about all this is stressful and I just want to make the right decision for the kids! Any help on areas to look into would be greatly appreciated.
....We love to be outdoors and enjoy being able to go on walks with our dogs, kayaking, and parks. So a low crime area/good school is the two main things we want....... I would consider anything up to about an hour commute......
Based on my quick check of the Greatschools map, the better schools are in the south-east section of Greenville. Look specifically at the Chicod Elementary, Hope Middle and Conley High school districts. It should not be hard to find parks and kayaking. Look at the city-data profile of Greenville for income, demographics and crime. You will find the crime rate slightly higher than the US average, but typical for a city of over 90 thousand with a large university. The profile is here: //www.city-data.com/city/Greenv...-Carolina.html
Commuting further away will not get you better schools. If anything, rural schools get worse ratings. However, if you really want a small town atmosphere, look at Washington, NC, also known as Little Washington. Profile here: //www.city-data.com/city/Washin...-Carolina.html
Last edited by goldenage1; 04-16-2019 at 01:13 AM..
Agree that Chicod Elementary is the best in the county. However the district is in the southeast area of the county which is a rural area. So you would have to live outside of any city limits for your kids to attend. However, you’re only about 20-25 minute drive to Greenville and even closer to smaller towns such as Ayden or Winterville. In the northern area of the district is the Eastern Pines area, which has a lot of subdivision type neighborhoods. That might be your best bet.
Based on my quick check of the Greatschools map, the better schools are in the south-east section of Greenville. Look specifically at the Chicod Elementary, Hope Middle and Conley High school districts. It should not be hard to find parks and kayaking. Look at the city-data profile of Greenville for income, demographics and crime. You will find the crime rate slightly higher than the US average, but typical for a city of over 90 thousand with a large university. The profile is here: //www.city-data.com/city/Greenv...-Carolina.html
Commuting further away will not get you better schools. If anything, rural schools get worse ratings. However, if you really want a small town atmosphere, look at Washington, NC, also known as Little Washington. Profile here: //www.city-data.com/city/Washin...-Carolina.html
Chicod is a K-8 school. I think the better option is Wintergreen/Hope/Conley. If the school is important, look around some parts of Winterville. Be careful when looking at neighborhoods tho. Some will go to WH Robinson/AG Cox/Conley route. If at all possible I would see if there is a rental house in some of the subdivisions in Winterville, or outskirts of Greenville (ie around Corey Rd.) because I can't think of any rental units around that goes the Wintergreen/Hope/Conley (maybe the Treetops?).
We lived in the Eastern Pines area in Pitt County, southeast of the city limits, from 2005 to 2009. Our daughter attended private school because we hadn't heard very good things about Wintergreen - but it's been 10 years, so maybe that's changed. We were across the street from being in the Chicod district, which would have been preferable for us. Eastern Pines is very quiet. It's grown a little in the past 10 years, but nothing crazy.
Based on my quick check of the Greatschools map, the better schools are in the south-east section of Greenville. Look specifically at the Chicod Elementary, Hope Middle and Conley High school districts. It should not be hard to find parks and kayaking. Look at the city-data profile of Greenville for income, demographics and crime. You will find the crime rate slightly higher than the US average, but typical for a city of over 90 thousand with a large university. The profile is here: //www.city-data.com/city/Greenv...-Carolina.html
Commuting further away will not get you better schools. If anything, rural schools get worse ratings. However, if you really want a small town atmosphere, look at Washington, NC, also known as Little Washington. Profile here: //www.city-data.com/city/Washin...-Carolina.html
Chicod is actually a K-8 school so you dont go to Hope Middle if you are in the Chicod district. The other issue with Chicod is going to be a lack of potential rentals in the district, its rural landscape with not many rentals available. The bigger option would be to be in Hope Middle and Wintergreen Elementary. Wintergreen is good, likely better than its ratings. Plus this district is closer in to Greenville and its amenities including parks (Elm St park is a gem). There is also a county park across the street from Wintergreen and Boyd Lee Park the next road over (on Corey Rd). Corey Rd is a nice area with some new houses being built...one side of the road has Winterville addresses, the other side Greenville.
Wintergreen/Hope/ Conley and Chicod/Conley are both great options. It depends if you are looking for a larger student body per grade. I love the k-8 model. Middle school students have the opportunity to mentor younger grades if they wish during their electives. They don't have the problems that larger middle schools bring. It has a very family type atmosphere and an active PTO. The smaller student body allows more kids to make sports teams. The kids really get to know each other and form a close bond. I was a little worried that my kids would have a hard time adjusting to a larger school when they went to high school, but they transitioned great and were well prepared. The front part of the building is very old which deters new people when they first see it. The new part is in the back where most of the classes are now. It is about 10-15 minutes outside of the city limits, but there are nice neighborhoods going up in the district all of the time. I have heard great things about Wintergreen and Hope as well. The thing that turned me off about Wintergreen was there were 8-10 classroom per grade level which would make it hard for the kids to be with someone they knew from one year to the next.
Thank you so much for all the replies. It is greatly appreciated! I have a phone interview this week and am hoping for a sit in interview after that. I will definitely check these areas out. I have never relocated before and plan on calling some schools to ask but, does anyone know if school districts let anyone tour schools to make sure they are the right fit? I am hoping to spend a few days in the area.
Thank you so much for all the replies. It is greatly appreciated! I have a phone interview this week and am hoping for a sit in interview after that. I will definitely check these areas out. I have never relocated before and plan on calling some schools to ask but, does anyone know if school districts let anyone tour schools to make sure they are the right fit? I am hoping to spend a few days in the area.
If your kids are young, I would visit both Chicod and Wintergreen. They are two different types of schools as noted previously. Chicod serves more a rural population and has small class sizes. Wintergreen may be one of the largest Elementary schools in the state, but its really two schools, a 3 grade primary attached to a 3 grade Intermediate. I had a daughter graduate from Wintergreen recently and was impressed with their AIG program, the teachers...their gym is crazy nice for an Elementary...its a very diverse school because of its size. And thankfully, the county system is starting to relax their uniform policies, which were completely unnecessary. Hope Middle is very similar, bigger, more diverse...it just depends on your tastes and what your kids may be used to. Chicod is further away from Greenville and requires going more out of your way if you work in Greenville.
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